by Abdul Haleem

    KABUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has been gradually recovering from war devastation as road building and booming housing construction attract the eyes of onlookers almost everywhere in the country, particularly in the capital Kabul.

    More than 3,000 km of roads have been built with a cost of some4 billion U.S. dollars over the past five years while more than 2,000 km more are under construction, according to officials.

    Moreover, housing construction by private companies and individuals is booming. The war-torn capital is rapidly changing its face as the newly constructed cottages and mansions and those under construction attract travelers' attention.

    Taliban-led insurgency to some extent has undermined the reconstruction process particularly in the southern provinces.

    "Really, I feel happy when I see the booming housing construction in the capital," said Mohammad Akram, a Kabul resident.

    "Peace is the source of progress, prosperity, economic recovery and in one word peace is everything. When you have peace you have development, you have honor and prestige," the war-weary Akram noted.

    Like others in the war-torn areas, the residents of Kabul had suffered a lot. In one month thousands of innocent people were killed and thousands of others were forced to leave for safer places, the 49-year-old Akram recalled, referring to the bloody factional fighting that ruined the capital city in 1992-96.

    Kabul today houses more than 4 million people, mostly former refugees who have returned home since the collapse of Taliban regime five years ago.

    More than 0.4 million residents of Kabul city, according to capital police, have their own cars.

    In efforts to make the city clean and bring it at par with metropolitans in the neighboring states, the Kabul Municipality has began renovating old streets, constructing new roads and building parking lots with the support of government and involvement of private sectors.

    A number of national and international firms have dared Taliban militancy and invested billions of U.S. dollars to change the face of the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

    The U.S.-based Century Land Corporation has been constructing a town ship in downtown Kabul close to Kabul International Airport.

    The firm, according to its Sales Director Nesaar Ahmad, has planned to build 350 residential blocks with each having 40 apartments in the post-Taliban nation.

    Like the Centaury Land Corporation, Salim Caravan has also invested millions of U.S. dollars to build houses for the war-weary Afghans.

    However, the prices of apartments built by both the housing firms are almost beyond the reach of ordinary Afghans as the Century Land Corporation sells two-room apartments at 29,500 U.S. dollars while a 4-room apartment in Salim Caravan costs 72,000 U.S. dollars.

    The ongoing insurgency, mostly in the southern provinces, had claimed the lives of some 4,000 people in 2006 and thus undermined the development projects and rendered many jobless.

    One of the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan still depends on the international community's assistance.

    To alleviate poverty and lower the prices of houses in the war-battered Afghanistan, the government launched a Housing Complex early last month.

    Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 500 million U.S. dollar project, Vice President Ahmad Zia Masoud stressed that providing shelter to citizens is one of the prime objective of government.

    Despite of continued militancy and Taliban threat to sabotage peace in the post-Taliban nation, more than 6,000 national and international firms have registered with AISA (Afghanistan Investment Support Agency) since the fall of Taliban regime five years ago.

    So far, they have invested 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in the country, including 3 billion U.S. dollars in housing construction, Director of AISA Omar Zakhilwal told Xinhua.

    In the post-Taliban Afghanistan, constructing mansions, cottages and new houses has been considered as a fashion of the day.

    Besides, considerable investment had also taken place in the field of communication. so far, the sector has attracted some 600 million U.S. dollars of investment.

    In the past, Afghans trying to contact their relatives and friends abroad had to go to Pakistan to make a phone call. Since the fall of Taliban regime and induction of new administration in early 2002, majority of Afghans, particularly in the cities, own cellular phones.

    So far, three companies, namely, Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC), ROSHAN and Areeba, have been providing cellular phone services while the Dubai-based Etisalat will soon launch its service here.

    Etisalat, according to AISA chief, will invest 300 million U.S. dollars over the next two years in Afghanistan.

    Only in 2006, between 600 million to 700 million U.S. dollars were invested in the war-battered Afghanistan, Zakhilwal stressed.

    He added that the post-war Afghanistan had already been self-sufficient in producing soft drink and mineral water and would try to achieve the goal in all fields through establishing industrial parks and attracting investments.

    Commenting on AISA's 2007 target, Zakhilwal said that the government-backed investment support body would try to attract 1.5billion U.S. dollars this year.

    Per capita income in the landlocked post-Taliban nation, according to an official at the World Bank's country office, has increased from 180 U.S. dollars in 2002 to 300 U.S. dollars in 2006. The figure is expected to reach 500 dollars by 2010.

    Rebuilding Afghanistan takes longer time than expected as destroying a house takes one day while its construction requires months, if not years. So, recovering from 25 years of war needs more years, 65-year-old carpenter Mohammad Najib said.